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“The Cal” Pirelli’s Icon Calendar Turns 50.

Advertising and selling tires is not something that usually gets associated with terms like “High Fashion”, or “Sexy”. That isn’t to say that automotive parts manufacturers haven’t used scantily clad women to sell their wares for the last 100 or so years. The reality is they always have. Doing it righ however is another thing entirely.

For the last 50 years Pirelli, has distributed an iconic calendar that they call an “Icon of Pirelli’s communication”. Since 1964 the calendar has featured portraits of models and actresses shot by the worlds best photographers. Like most automotive parts calendars, the women are wearing little or nothing at all. The difference is, the Italian company has elevated the pinup calendar to a higher level with beautiful, artistic imagery.

To celebrate The Pirelli calendar’s 50th anniversary, Pirelli pulled photos from its archive that were shot by the late Helmut Newton for the 1986 edition. The images that Newton shot in 1986 were never released. In 1986 Pirelli chose instead to use photographs from Bert Stern Instead, when Newton fell behind schedule and there was fear that he wouldn’t finish in time.

The videos below feature the promotional spot for the 2014 calendar featuring Helmut Newton’s shots. It is a wonderful black and white tribute to the photographer and the female form. The second video is a behind the scenes series of interviews with photographers and models that have worked on the calendar since it’s first release in 1964.

There are quite a few sections that feature exposed sexy lady lady parts, so if you are offended by nudity, or are in a public place you might want to wait to watch these.